Mauser C96 "Broomhandle"

The C96, or Broomhandle Mauser, was the first semi-automatic pistol to see widespread use. It was manufactured from 1896 to 1936 in Germany, as well as being manufactured in direct or modified - and often unlicensed - form in other countries, such as Spain, and especially China.

The main characteristics that distinguish this pistol are the magazine forward of the trigger, the long and protruding barrel, and the handle shaped like the end of a broom handle, hence the nickname of "Broomhandle."There were many variants, including a short-barrelled version, versions with detachable magazines instead of the permanently-mounted magazine seen on most versions, and models such as the M1932/M712 that could be used as machine pistols with a setting to fire full-automatic. All versions were made to use detachable shoulder-stocks that doubled as holsters. The C96 was usually made in 7.63 x 25 mm Mauser, but many were also made in 9 mm Luger Parabellum and versions in .45 ACP caliber were produced in China. The C96 was also manufactured on a limited or experimental basis in 7.65 mm Borchart, 9 mm Mauser, 7.65 mm Parabellum, 9 mm Largo (Bergmann), and 8.15 mm Mauser. A small number of carbine models were also manufactured.

During World War I the Imperial German Army contracted Mauser for 150,000 C96 pistols, chambered for the 9 mm Parabellum. This variant was named the "Red 9" and had a large, red-painted number "9" debossed on the handle, to prevent the pistols' users from loading them with 7.63 mm ammunition by mistake. Of these 150,000, approximately 135,000 were delivered before the war ended. This was the only time in which the C96 was ever used officially by the German military.The Mauser C96 was sold commercially worldwide; Winston Churchill favored it, and used one at the Battle of Omdurman and during the Second Boer War. The pistols saw service in various colonial wars, World War I, the Spanish Civil War, the Chaco War, and World War II, among other places. Many were sold to Russia during the Revolution, mostly in the short-barrelled variant, giving that version the nickname "Bolo" (short for "Bolshevik") Mauser. The pistol, both imports and domestically-made, was used extensively by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. It was nicknamed the "box cannon" (Chinese: 盒子炮; pinyin: hézipào) because it was holstered in a wooden box.

Despite the pistols' worldwide popularity and fame, the Broomhandle Mauser never became the service pistol of any military or police of any nation, except China.

Today the Broomhandle Mauser is a popular collector's gun; many have come on to the US civilian market after being exported from China.Due to the fact that C96 was a German weapon and very popular on the international market, the gun featured in many movies that dealt with World War I or with world events from the 1900s to the 1930s (but rarely in World War II movies). It also became a favourite in spy movies and TV-shows as late as the 1970s. Since the shape of the gun is very distinctive, the gun wielder would be immediately identified as an "enemy" or a "villain", but the C96 is very seldom associated with specifically German characters, even in movies of either World War; Germans in American movies are typically shown wielding the Luger pistol.

The Broomhandle Mauser is certainly the most recognizable weapon in Chinese war films and dramas, and is ubiquitous throughout this genre; indeed, the weapon of choice for many of the main characters tend to be the Broomhandle Mauser, sometimes aesthetically modified with red tassels on the handles.

In the Star Wars movies, the prop for Han Solo's BlasTech DL-44 blaster is a modified C96.